Jefferson Davis manuscript material is scattered in repositories from the East to
the West Coast. Some of the more important Davis collections are at the University of Alabama Library; Duke University Library; Library of Congress; Museum of the Confederacy; National Archives (Record Group 109, which contains
numerous Confederate records); Transylvania University Library; Mississippi
Department of Archives and History; Louisiana Historical Association Collection housed at Tulane University; Filson Club collection, Louisville, Kentucky; Miami of Ohio University Library (in the Samuel W. Richey Collection); and Rice University Library. Detailed information on Davis manuscripts can be
found in the National Union Catalog of Manuscripts Collections ( 1964-), a
multivolume compilation of largely unpublished holdings in libraries and other
repositories throughout the United States.

Fortunately for the Davis scholar, the Rice University and the Jefferson Davis
Association/ Jefferson Davis Papers Project has resulted in the collection, compilation, and publication of most known pertinent Davis material. The first volume of the Papers of Jefferson Davis ( 1971), edited by
Haskell M. Monroe Jr.,
and
James T. McIntosh, covers the years 1808- 1840 and includes Davis's autobiography written shortly before his death and a Davis genealogy chart. The
first volume also set the pattern for future volumes, featuring a chronology and,
most important, solid scholarship. Later volumes include pertinent items not
included in the proper time frame of previous volumes. Volume 2 ( 1974), edited
by
James McIntosh, includes items from June 1841 to July 1846; volume 3
( 1981), edited by
McIntosh, for July 1846 to December 1848; volume 4 ( 1983),
edited by
Lynda Lasswell Crist, for 1849 to 1852; volume 5 ( 1985), edited by

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.